Dan Severn Reflects on UFC 9: I Stuck to My Game Plan

“It was the greatest psychological warfare match ever thought up. …
You had 10,000 people in the arena. Ken is basically more of a
counterattacker. He never really goes out on an actual true
offensive. He kind of sits back and waits for things to come
towards him. I kept thinking, If I mirror this, the exact same
pattern here right now, who’s going to get a little bit bored with
this match? The people. So when the people start to boo, how are
you going to let that affect you? John McCarthy was the referee.
Someone from the side must have said, ‘You’ve got to get these guys
to fight.’ He actually stops the match. He’s pushing Ken back in
one direction. He’s pushing me back in another. ‘You guys came here
to fight. Blankety-blank-blank. Then get to fighting. Blah, blah
blah,’ and as he’s pushing me back, I go, ‘John, take your shirt
off. We’ll make it a triangular death match. I don’t care because
I’m not about to change my game plan.’ I came in there with a game
plan. I stuck to my game plan.”